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Marking Surgical Sites

By Brianne Bender posted 06-13-2012 02:01 PM

  
I recently had a surgeon come to me asking about marking the surgical site.  He states that you should not be marking and sites "no".  He says that if there is a mark on it, it can be mistaken for the surgical site.  Is there a standard in AORN, or anywhere else that can clarify this for me?  We are currently marking the operative site with a "yes" and the surgeon initials.  The opposite leg or arm, is then marked with a "no".
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02-05-2013 10:52 AM

I agree, you should not be marking the the non- surgical site (tooo confusing) just mark the correct surgical site with a mark your policy states and then have the surgeon sign next to it.

01-16-2013 12:37 PM

I know that we are required to mark the correct site with an "X" and then the surgeon must come in and verify the correct site by putting his/her intials on the site as well. There should be no other markings on the wrong site. Hope this helps.